Originally Posted by
mrblueduck
There seems to be a lengthy discussion on one of my favorite cards Goblin Settler. I have been a big advocate of the card and played it pretty heavily over the last few months in several hundred games. In fact the only reason I started playing legacy online is the printing of Settler in VMA, so yes I believe the card is not only powerful but very misunderstood. I have been asked several times why I think the card is so good, and I believe the reason is easy. Imagine a card that makes Goblins a turn faster. Instead of being able to goldfish consistently a turn 4 win you can win turn 3. That card would be extremely good, and would be played heavily. Well Goblin Settler does that... kinda. In combo matchups instead of making your deck a turn faster it makes your opponents deck a turn slower. While not exactly the same, destroying a basic land or mana source will often set your opponent back that one turn. My old goblin deck had exactly one combination to kill on turn 3, which is Lackey + KJ + Piledriver, and I had tons and tons of combinations to kill on turn 4 with Instigator, maybe 50-60. There isn't anything I could do to make my deck faster, but adding Settler, it gave me a unique angle ( that is tutorable) to consistently slow my opponents down one turn. Settler also can destroy some combo decks if you also have KJ, which with Instigator and any matron is more a reality than dream scenario, it happens a lot.
That was the reason I moved to one Settler in the main. The reason I moved to two is, Instigator and Goblin Lackey need strong ETB targets to put into play. Turn one lackey, turn two attack and put into play.... Well one of the best cards to put into play is Ringleader. However outside of Ringleader, there aren't a lot of haymakers. Krenko used to be in that slot, and he has gotten much worse, as has a second Tuktuk scrapper. In my mind the only real competitor for that 2nd slot would be SGC, but the CMC of 5 and not running a Piledriver to take full advantage makes me choose Settler. The 'Instigator builds' Rely on connecting more than other builds and you need cards with ETB, hence Tuktuk over TSH. And out of the ETB cards I find Settler to be the most Game Over card when you connect. Doesn't matter if its against combo, control, or midrange, Settler is a strong ETB ability, and goblins don't have many alternatives. Yes Matron is great ETB, but turn 2 matron is extremely mediocre. It doesn't become better until you have a developed Vial, or more Mana sources.
The last reason I like Settler, is it is a good card in certain matchups. I already have talked about how I think its very good against Combo decks, but its also very good against Lands/12 Posts, and Miracles. Then there is the games where it will come and wreck utility lands, like Burnwillows, Karakas, Cradle, and more recently Inkmoth Nexus. And then there are the games where you Wasteland into Settler out an opponent. However as you have noted, Settler is not very good against Delver decks. That is mostly true. It is not very good against RUG or UWR. Besides our RUG matchup is pretty solid even with Settlers in the MB.
Anways, just my thoughts.
